Feeding on the hype of the Winter Olympic Games, Red Bull’s Crashed Ice series opened in St. Paul, Minnesota to a record-breaking 120,000 spectators on Saturday night. Held at the Cathedral of St. Paul, audience members huddled together for warmth to witness this unbelievable downhill ice competition.

St. Paul was just the second stop on this year’s Ice Cross Downhill World Championship, which has expanded into a five-run series. The reason for the expansion is obvious to anyone who attends one of the events. With its steep ice course full of sharp turns and big jumps, often leading to epic crashes, Crashed Ice is an adrenaline junkie’s dream. The goal is to cross the finish line first in the four-man heat, but with athletes traveling at high speeds, many onlookers may be surprised that anyone makes it to the bottom in one piece.

The sport began in Europe as a pilot project in 2001. Originally held in Stockholm, the inaugural event was only 300 meters long, and was won by Sweden’s Jasper Felder. Since then, downhill ice racing has expanded with events being hosted worldwide and a World Championship added after the 2010 season.

The sport is a unique combination of hockey and downhill skiing that requires four competitors at a time to race to the bottom of a course that averages 400 meters. This year, Austrian Marco Dallago emerged victorious, with Canadian Scott Croxall taking second, and local athlete, Cameron Naasz, placing third.

The Crashed Ice athletes will now travel to Moscow to compete in another thrilling race on March 8.

To watch the video of the St. Paul event, or to follow the rest of the tour, visit the website.

Image courtesy of Red Bull